The Robin
WHEN up aloftI fly and fly,I see in poolsThe shining sky,And a happy birdAm I, am I!
When I descendTowards their brinkI stand, and look,And stoop, and drink,And bathe my wings,And chink and prink.
When winter frostMakes earth as steelI search and searchBut find no meal,And most unhappyThen I feel.
But when it lasts,And snows still fall,I get to feelNo grief at all,For I turn to a cold stiffFeathery ball!
(She, alone)
I ROSE and went to Rou’tor TownWith gaiety and good heart,And ardour for the start,That morning ere the moon was downThat lit me off to Rou’tor TownWith gaiety and good heart.
When sojourn soon at Rou’tor TownWrote sorrows on my face,I strove that none should traceThe pale and gray, once pink and brown,When sojourn soon at Rou’tor TownWrote sorrows on my face.
The evil wrought at Rou’tor TownOn him I’d loved so trueI cannot tell anew:But nought can quench, but nought can drownThe evil wrought at Rou’tor TownOn him I’d loved so true!
Words in this poem
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- prink v. i.
- To dress or adjust one's self for show; to prank. [Probably a nasalized form of prick. See Prick, v. t., and cf. Prig, Prank.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- ardour n.
- Heat, in a literal sense; as, the ardor of the sun's rays. [L. ardor, fr. ardere to burn: cf. OF. ardor, ardur, F. ardeur.]
- sojourn v. i.
- To dwell for a time; to dwell or live in a place as a temporary resident or as a stranger, not considering the place as a permanent habitation; to delay; to tarry. [OE. sojornen, sojournen, OF. sojorner, sejorner, F. séjourner, fr. L. sub under, about + diurnus belonging to the day. See Journal, Diurnal.]
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Robin is in the public domain. This text is taken from Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #3255; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hardy, The Robin, in Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3255, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-moments-of-vision/the-robin.html, id L24208.
Form and metre
The Robin is 43 lines in 8 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABBAAB, in 3 of the 8 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A-A aloft · flyA · pools · skyA · bird · iA
- 2 -A-A-A descend · brinkA · look · drinkA · wings · prinkA
- 3 -A-A-A frost · steelA · search · mealA · unhappy · feelA
- 4 -A-A-A lasts · fallA · feel · allA · stiff · ballA
- 6 ABBAAB townA · heartB · startB · downA · townA · heartB
- 7 ABBAAB townA · faceB · traceB · brownA · townA · faceB
- 8 ABBAAB townA · trueB · anewB · drownA · townA · trueB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| WHEN up aloft | 4 | ··˘/ |
| I fly and fly, | 4 | ···· |
| I see in pools | 4 | ···· |
| The shining sky, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And a happy bird | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Am I, am I! | 4 | ···· |
| When I descend | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Towards their brink | 4 | ···· |
| I stand, and look, | 4 | ···· |
| And stoop, and drink, | 4 | ···· |
| And bathe my wings, | 4 | ···· |
| And chink and prink. | 4 | ···· |
| When winter frost | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Makes earth as steel | 4 | ···· |
| I search and search | 4 | ···· |
| But find no meal, | 4 | ···· |
| And most unhappy | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Then I feel. | 3 | ··· |
| But when it lasts, | 4 | ···· |
| And snows still fall, | 4 | ···· |
| I get to feel | 4 | ···· |
| No grief at all, | 4 | ···· |
| For I turn to a cold stiff | 7 | ······· |
| Feathery ball! | 4 | /˘˘· |
| (She, alone) | 3 | ·˘/ |
| I ROSE and went to Rou’tor Town | 8 | ········ |
| With gaiety and good heart, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And ardour for the start, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That morning ere the moon was down | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That lit me off to Rou’tor Town | 8 | ········ |
| With gaiety and good heart. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| When sojourn soon at Rou’tor Town | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wrote sorrows on my face, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I strove that none should trace | 6 | ······ |
| The pale and gray, once pink and brown, | 8 | ········ |
| When sojourn soon at Rou’tor Town | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wrote sorrows on my face. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The evil wrought at Rou’tor Town | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On him I’d loved so true | 7 | ····˘·· |
| I cannot tell anew: | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| But nought can quench, but nought can drown | 8 | ········ |
| The evil wrought at Rou’tor Town | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On him I’d loved so true! | 7 | ····˘·· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.